these appearances he spent February on loan at Torquay United, but did not appear for John Cornforth's struggling team. On 15 March 2007, he, along with Hartlepool United's Michael Proctor, agreed to join Boston United on loan. However, due to Boston's financial state, Boston chairman Jim Rodwell was unable to sanction the deals. He was released by Huddersfield in May 2007, and two months later he signed for Hereford United, ending his eleven-year association with the club. Hereford United He began 2007–08 as third-choice centre back, but an injury to Dean Beckwith gave McCombe his chance. He turned in a number of impressive performances, preserving Hereford's unbeaten record and scoring his first professional goal from a Kris Taylor cross in a 2–0 FA Cup victory against Hartlepool United. McCombe made 27 league appearances as Hereford gained promotion from League Two, but was dropped for the run-in, in favour of Karl Broadhurst. This coincided with McCombe's mistake in a key fixture against Chester City when he conceded a penalty kick in the last minute for handball, which enabled Chester to draw the match 2–2. He was to make only one more appearance for the club, as a second-half substitute on the final day of the season. In May 2008, manager and chairman Graham Turner confirmed that out-of-contract McCombe would not be offered a new deal. Port Vale On 29 May 2008, McCombe agreed a two-year contract to join Port Vale. He claimed one of the reasons he put pen to paper was that having met manager Lee Sinnott 13 years previously, he knew that Sinnott could help improve his game. However, he established himself as a first-choice centre back under new manager Dean Glover, but was also told he was too 'nice' and needed to be more aggressive in his defending. Nevertheless, his performances 2008–09 earned him the chairman's Player of the Year award, as well as the nickname 'Boom Boom McCombe' from fans. Retaining his first-team place in 2009–10, he was transfer listed in late September 2009, along with the entire Port Vale squad, after manager Micky Adams saw his team slip to a third consecutive defeat. However, by the end of October 2009 he had played in the opening 18 matches of the season, picking up a goal on the way, and was confident of earning a new contract by the season's end. On 12 December 2009, he received